MILAN – Antonio Candreva stressed that everyone at Inter is hard at work trying to get Inter back to where the club belongs as he appeared at the Gentleman Awards 2017 in Milan on Monday night.
Candreva was being honoured as part of the awards ceremony, which recognises fair play in the Italian game.
"This is a very important award and I’m proud to receive it and follow in the footsteps of some great players," said Candreva. "It’s important to set a good example when you become a professional. We have a responsibility because children look up to us and we need to be good role models. My advice is to have fun – you need luck, but having fun is the most important thing."
Candreva also looked back at what has been a difficult campaign for Inter.
"It’s been a negative season for Inter and for all of us – we weren’t expecting it," he said. "We had lots of problems at the start and end of the season. Now we need to finish a poor campaign in the best way possible. The fact that we’re where we are in the table and are going through such a tough spell shows that everything has gone wrong. We need to accept praise when things go well and criticism when things go badly.
"We know that the fans are angry and they have good reason to be. We’re not happy with how it’s gone either so next year we need to improve the way we go about things. We have to accept the criticism because we’ve not been good enough for the shirt we wear. The fans have been very patient with all the times we’ve made ourselves and them look bad. We say sorry but it comes down to actions. They’ve been very supportive and we promise that next year we’ll try to change course.
"There’s lots you could say after the year we’ve had. It’s right that we’re criticised because Inter can’t be in this position. We take responsibility for this negative year. That said, we need to start concentrating on next season right away. We have to work hard and show mutual respect. What we need is humility, group spirit and a positive attitude. We all need to change our attitude if we’re going to be able to aim high from the off.
"I don’t want to speak about the decision on who the next coach is going to be because I have nothing to do with that. All I can say is that it’s the hard work, sacrifice and humility you show during the week that gets you results. Spalletti has done a good job, managing big dressing rooms and top teams over the years. Totti? It’s not my place to sum him up, other than to say he’s been a wonderful player. He’s made Italian football history. I have nothing but praise for him.
"This is a strong club and they’ll be able to choose the right coach to help us compete with the top teams. Gabigol? I really don’t know what happened last night, I just heard rumours. He made a mistake. We get together tomorrow to start preparing for the last match and we’ll speak about what happened."
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